Ephemeral Street Art gallery in Les Bains-Douches

On April 30th the works of 50 of the world’s leading street artists will be destroyed in the renovation of Les Bains-Douches marking the end the of ephemeral artists’ residency.

Paris -
APR 26, 2013

Les Bains-Douches is a legend in the nightlife of Paris. Until 2010, it was one of the most important nightclubs in the city. But when the building was declared a safety hazard, Jean–Pierre Marois formed La Societé des Bains in 2011 to safe the building. The plan worked and in 2014 a new venue will open. This meant that the building would be closed and unused for at least 3 years.

In order to “breathe some fresh life” into the building in the meantime, Marois and Magda Danysz, owner of the Galerie Magda Danysz, decided to create an artist residency for 50 of the world’s top street artists, titled One Day One Artist.

Julien Malland Seth. Photo: Jérôme Coton

The residency began in January of this year. Since then, the street artists have had the freedom to turn the historical building into a 3,000 square meter gallery. Paying tribute the artistic legacy of the building, each artist has brought his personal style to the project turning the building into an endless canvas of work. A canvas created by a list of who’s who of international street art. Artists like Atlas, Futura, Space INVADER, Zeer, SKKI, STEN LEX, ASH, SOWAY, among others, have participated.

Unfortunatly, this heaven of street art has been closed to the public, due to the buildings bad state. In order to document the project, two photographers Stephane Bisseuil and Jérôme Coton, have been in charge of capturing the process and the final outcome of some of the pieces created in the course of these 4 months.

LUDO. Photo: Stephane Bisseuil

But aside of the artistic importance of this artist residency, quite possibly the most impressive reunion of street art to date, the project's true interest comes from its ephemeral nature. The entire project, every single one of the artworks, will be destoyed on April 30th once the renovation of Les Bains begins.

Thomas Canto. Photo: Jérôme Coton

As those responsible for the project explain One Day One Artist is "a metamorphosis, almost subliminal flash from a mythical place. Everything is there. It is majestic and never seen, sophisticated and beautifully raw. An unthinkable comeback in the transgressive underground soul of Les Bains." A project born out of the love of art and the appreciation of history. The perfect good-bye to the legendary 19th century building before it transforms into a 21st century venue.